Poultry and livestock feeder



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 2, 1945. F. L. SPIVEY POULTRY AND LIVE STOCK FEEDER Filed Nv. 15, 1945 WWII/114m VII /111M VIII n- I A Patented Oct. 2, 1945 asst mo 1 Application November 15, rs4s 'seriarnt. 510,337.;

My, invention-relates.to..improvements..in automatic means for. feeding, poultry, andQlive. stock without; attentionby; a. caretaker. at feeding. De.-

riods'. I A V An object. ofmy invention islto'providefpro; tectionior the feed contained. in the-.feeder. be.- tweenfeedi'ngperiods' againstlwaste by. birds, rats, mice, ,andlthe..eleme1its. asrain; dust' and. storm.

,Ahotherohjectof invention istogprovide a fedltjj'selfroperatedi by thee particular. poultry or 1ive.lstocl&.to,be..fd. and so constructed. in.size andbalance; as re. preyent; other. kinds. and. sizes of 'poultry or live stocklnotintended tobe fed from gettingsaidffed. H f

Another. obj ectf army, inventionlis. .to. providea feeder which will preventthepoultry on animal being, fedffrom [climbing,fnto..the-feed.;trough .and contaminatingthefeedliliereby.

Other. obj ects ofv my "invention. Willi be under-.-

stood'. fromastudy; of, thev accompanying. draw.- ings and'specifi'cations in which like reference characters refer to :lik e parts throughout the various views:

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the feeder as seen from the left side of Figure 2;.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectionalview taken on line 22 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a side elevation as seen from the right hand side of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 55 of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings; Figure 2, the feeder consists essentially of a housing I, with ends extending to and forming ground bases therefor, and has a removable lid 2, and a feed trough 3 for a bottom. Said housing has feeding openings 4 above the sides of the trough. Mounted for vertical sliding movement in run-ways 5 (Figure 5) located at each end of openings 4 are doors 6 which normally close said openings by seating upon the top of the trough sides, when positioned as viewed in Figure 1, and the left hand half of Figure 2. If desired, and it is here preferred to prevent rain falling on the side of the housin from going into the feed trough 3 at the bottom of door 6, that the upper edge of the trough sides be bevelled as viewed in Figure 2, and the lower edge of the door he bevelled opposite to the bevel on the trough-side. Thus constructed, when doors 6 seat on top of the trough sides, water falling on the housing cannot get into the feed trough. Mounted within housing I and having ends in slid'ablr connection. with- .said. housing, is.qa feed bin rseatea upon. adjustable. pins 8 projecting from, rotatable discs; 9T.which, after, adjustment ardhel'dihpltce by lockj nuts; Hli By, this, arrangement'tlie fed bin may, be. raisedor lowered relative to the feed."trough 3 for r egulating the rate at. which the feed lis: discharged into the feedit'rough, While itfisinot'es'sentialfor successftllfol ieration of the, feeder, it is preferred tlfi'atfthe lowernoruon ofi'tli'eifedibinbe Of great'er width than'tlie topportion thereof "to preventwed'ging of "feed Centeringpihs l In projecting: inwardly from the ends. offtl ie housing I are providedin order toassure a verticalposition o'fthe. fedibin l regardless of" thep'ositions; of the .pins" carried bygtlieodiscs '9. Thepins' Ilware soispa'ced with relation to"the,vli'dth of 'the'feed bin Tthatf they willpermitvertical [movemeritof "the feed but will prevent horizontaljnioyement of the feed bin 1 "wherr'the' discs. 9? carryingjthe pins Stare. rotated.

Pivoted'by; pins l 2't o housirig ends below'trough 3*are arms" of footrestsl 3. The downward movement of said foot rests is limited by suitablestops l4. Connected to the foot rests l3 are upwardly extending pull rods l5 provided at their upper ends with links I6 which serve to connect said pull rods [5 with the inner ends of balance levers ll pivoted to the housing I by shafts i8. The outer ends of levers I! are provided with links H] forming the connecting medium between the outer ends of levers H and doors 6. An examination of Figures 1, 2 and 4 will disclose that when positioned for operation the weight of doors 6 will be slightly greater than the weight of the foot rests. Thus the doors 6 will seat on the trough sides while the foot rests [3 will be vertically elevated. In such position it will be noticed that a downward movement of the foot rests l3 through action of the pull rods, links and levers results in an upward movement of the doors. Attention is here invited to the fact that with various types and sizes of feeders the location of the various pivots, stops, and lengths of links, pull rods and levers will of necessity vary in accordance with individual requirements.

While the feeder has been described as a feeder from which feed may be obtained from either side it can readily be converted into a feeder from which feed is obtainable from one side only by merely disconnecting one of the pull rods I5. On which ever side the pull rod I5 is disconnected the door 6 will remain constantly in its closed position.

To operate, the feed is placed in the feed bin and then passes into the feed trough. Then in norupward. The doors seat upon their trough sides;

in their normal positions.

It is to be understood that while a preferred form of the invention is disclosed changes may be r iced trough has sides with the upper edges bev- .Qelled and said doors have bottom edges bevelled made in various parts of themechanism'toeonform to individual requirements without changing the spirit of the invention. f

Having described my invention what I claimas.

new, and desire Letters Patent for are:

1. In combination with a housing, a feed trough. within said housing, a feed bin within the housing communicating with said feed trough, stop means for adjusting and spacing the 'feed bin above the feed trough, openings in said housing communicating with said feed trough, vertically sliding closuresmounted adjacent said openings, a removable housing lid, guide pins for positioning the feed bin walls, footrests pivoted to the housing for limited vertical movement with relation' to said housing, and link, lever and rod means connecting said vertical sliding closures and the foot rests so balanced that the closures will normally assume their down-most or closed position.

2. In combination with a housing having'openings therein, a feed trough within said housing, a feed bin within and having end walls adjacent the end walls of the feed trough, adjustable stops mounted on the housing end walls and spacing the feed bin above the feed trough, and comprising guide pins for positioning the feed bin'walls, vertically sliding doors mounted for closing the openings, door runways, a removable housing lid, and link, rod, lever and platform means for vertically raising said sliding doors.

3. A device of the class described and claimed in claim 2; wherein each link, rod, lever and platform means for vertically raising the sliding doors comprises a platform with arms pivoted to V forms. 7

4. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said opposite to the level on the trough sides so that prevents falling rain from going into the feed trough.

V 5. In combinationwith ahousing, a feed trough within said housing having bevelled top sides, openings in the sides of said housing communi eating with said feed trough, vertically sliding doors with bevelled bottom edges adjacent the openings-door runways, foot rests with arms pivoted to the housing ends. for limited vertical movement in relation to the housing, balance levers pivoted to the sides of the housing, links connecting said vertically sliding doors with the outer ends of the balance levers, link and rod means for connecting the foot rests with the inner ends 'of the levers so balanced that in normal position the doors will be closed while the foot rests are raised, stops limiting downward movement of the foot rests, a feed bin wider at the bottom than at the top mounted within the housing, adjustable stops spacing the feed bin above the feed trough, and pin means positioning the walls of the feed bin, substantially as described.

' FRANK L. SPIVEY. 

